Visas..

Posted on September 3, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

Visa’s are the bane of my life.

Honestly, one day they will be the death of me! There is not enough space on the whole internet for me to say quite how I feel, so I won’t bother (: But what really, really irritates me, is seeing British people complain about Turkey’s holiday visa rules, the length of the visa queue on arrival at the airport, the fact people can’t renew the visa every 90days by just hopping on a boat to Rhodes, or how much a rip off the £10 visa is. Honestly, if people realised the effort people went to to get a holiday to the UK, they’d never again complain about having to wait 30 minutes in a queue, or having to pay £10… I guarantee it.

It’s so frustrating seeing people break the rules too, choosing to deliberately overstay their visa or work on a tourist visa illegally. I don’t understand why people abuse the really very simple Turkish visa system. I wish people just stuck to the rules, people are ignorant and being on the other side and experiencing it from another angle is really frustrating.

Imagine if Turkey were as strict as the UK, just how many British people would still be able to come on holiday, the £80 each fee’s, the hundreds of pieces of paper detailing the life history of every person in the family, proof you have no debt and are rich or have friends in Turkey willing to support you? Tourism would dramatically decrease, I bet.

I thank my lucky stars Turkey’s rules are not as strict as the UK or we’d really be screwed.

Best things about living in Turkey..

Posted on September 2, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

I may complain a lot, but I do love living in Turkey too, and going back to the UK soon has made me realise just how much I do love it. I thought I’d share a list of the best things about living in Turkey, in my opinion. Don’t worry, I’m not wearing rose tinted glasses.. I’ll be posting the worst things about living in Turkey soon.

Weather
This is actually on both my best and worst lists.. The good is the constant, guaranteed sunshine for 4-5 months of the year, sunny days cheer everyone up, and when the rain and storms do come in the winter, we welcome them with open arms.

Scenery
Nobody can deny the views and scenery in Turkey are amazing. I am so lucky to live near the sea, something that I really take for granted, the sunsets are amazing over the sea in winter. The natural beauty of the beaches and the mountains, the contrast between the holiday resorts on the turquoise coast, the fancy hotels and office buildings and landmarks in big cities like Istanbul and Izmir, and the typical Turkish villages in the rural countryside, they are all beautiful in their own way.

Public transport
I can’t comment about other cities, but the public transport in Fethiye is brilliant, especially the dolmuses between Calis and Fethiye, they run every few minutes and are reliable, cheap, and there’s hardly ever any traffic. There are bus links to and from all the main cities in the country via main bus/coach stations, and with car and petrol prices so high, these buses are very popular. The coaches go all over the country and are relatively cheap, often a lot cheaper than flying domestically (people think nothing of hopping on a coach for 12-24 hours to visit somewhere, rather than flying). In other main cities they have trains and trams, but I haven’t experienced either so cannot comment.

Turkish pride.
Anyone who has visited Turkey will know how proud of their history and background Turkish people are, as a whole. They are very patriotic, and you’ll find paintings, posters, monuments and statues in every town commemorating the founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Many people have his signature tattooed on their arms, others have stickers of him in their cars, jewellery with his name on, posters in their homes. In Fethiye there is a giant neon light up in the mountain of the shape of Atatürk’s head (It is surprisingly much less cheesy than it sounds). The Turkish flag is also very highly respected, you will see it everywhere, I very much doubt you’ll find any home, village, town or city without a flag somewhere around. It isn’t something that appears once a year (lets face it, the only time you really see English flags is when they’re playing in the world cup or it’s St Georges day) it’s a permanent thing, a permanent reminder of how proud Turks are. If you ever say bad word about Atatürk, Turkey or deface a Turkish flag, it is a great insult ~~and you’ll know about it.~~

Food.
Turkish food is delicious, and often homemade and fresh. It is very difficult to find ready meals in shops, even the big supermarkets, it is becoming more common though- I found fish fingers in the frozen section and nearly peed myself with excitement (small things amuse small minds..) Another thing I love is how cheap fresh fruit and vegetables are, at least here in Fethiye (You all know how much I love market day), in fact that is the only thing I do find cheap here (in comparison to wages) but that will be discussed in another post.

Way of life.
We live a very simple life. We don’t have a lot of luxuries but we enjoy this simple life. We basically live on a farm, surrounded by cows, camels, goats, chickens and sheep, fruit trees and vegetables growing in the garden. I love it. We don’t go out to bars or restaurants, we don’t go to shopping centres or the cinema, we don’t drive, we don’t even have a TV, we really don’t do a lot of things that require money, but we don’t need those things to have fun. From my experience, a lot of people living here are the same, they love nothing better than going for a family picnic on a Sunday, taking a long walk or having the whole family gather for tea. We go for a walk every day with our dog, it’s honestly the highlight of my day, I love just walking in the hills with Berkay and Boncuk, I love being outside (never thought i’d say that..) and taking photos of our surroundings. Sometimes, it really is the small things and when my family visit they really struggle to see how we live such a simple life but still manage to enjoy ourselves and be happy. When you have no choice, you realise you don’t need money to have fun, sometimes just going for walks outside, a little picnic on the beach or dinner and a game on the balcony is enough to make you smile.

People.
I’m sure some people will disagree with me, but a lot of Turkish people are very friendly and will do anything to help you when in trouble. Of course there are bad everywhere, and some people want nothing more than your money, but on the whole, I have found people very kind. Everyone says ‘günaydın’ and ‘Iyi akşamlar’ to each other, we often go to the corner shop and come out with a bag full of food on a ‘pay later’ promise, when on the bus Berkay always stands up to let the older people sit down (in London on the tube last April, he stood up to let an older lady sit down, her face was priceless – pure shock), people really respect and look after their elders, everyone knows everyone (Berkay can’t walk down the street without stopping to say hi to at least 5 people..it’s something that is alien to me and is really quite frustrating actually). Last winter Berkay and I were struggling for money to pay bills and buy food, his boss didnt pay him for 2 months and someone that we’d known for less than a year helped us out, our landlord also lets us pay rent late if need be. A lot of things are very relaxed and people are laid back with a ‘no panic’ attitude.

I know, of course these traits aren’t limited to Turkish people, there are friendly people all over the world, but all you ever hear about nowadays are the bad. These are just things I have noticed from living here.

I live in Fethiye, I am commenting on my own experiences and not suggesting it is the same everywhere, I would love to hear your own experiences in different towns and cities. Turkey is a huge country, I know not everywhere and everyone is the same. Wouldn’t that be boring? (:

What is the best thing about living in Turkey for you?

Bunny..

Posted on September 1, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

I had no idea what to post today, this ‘bloggin’ everyday’ thing isn’t easy! Wasn’t in the mood to post something really meaningful and we done absolutely nothing other than walk the dog today, so I thought I’d just share some old photos (:

This was my bunny, Abbie. We got her from a pet shop in Fethiye in May 2011 when she was tiny. She was an Albino rabbit and I loved her to bits, she was so funny. She stayed on the balcony in a cage, but we often left the door open so she could hop around. Whenever we were outside eating dinner she’d come hopping over to us for a piece of bread or whatever we were eating, I’m sure she thought she was a dog. If we left our front door open for more than a few minutes she’d dart inside and hide behind the sofa, she knew she wasn’t allowed. She also enjoyed jumping from her cage into the bag of BBQ coals, which often resulted in patches of her white fur ending up black…

We visited the UK in April and Berkay came back to Turkey two weeks before me, a few days after he got back, she died.. ): A big bird took her from our balcony when her cage door was open and flew off with her somewhere. Berkay went out looking for her and took the dog to try and find her too, unsuccessfully though. I was so sad I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to her, but at least Berkay had been with her for a few days and I got to see her on FaceTime too.

I remember Berkay saying he thought she might have gotten away from the bird and would come back, and the night after she went, he looked out of the kitchen window and saw something white wandering around near the chickens downstairs so he ran down thinking it was her… but it was just a cat. ):

I used to go out on the balcony every morning at sunrise, as I still do now, and sit and hug her. Poor bunny. I do miss her.

It has resulted in a few cute moments though, I explained to my two year old little sister what had happened (she always used to ask to see my bunny on FaceTime, she still does even now..bless) and this was her reply ”A birdie (H)eat it..poor Dan Dan’s wabbit’‘. I still listen to this video and smile, she did cheer me up!

Click HERE to see the video, it’s cute (:

Bat onesies, cakes & babies..

Posted on August 31, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

As i mentioned in yesterday’s post, I had the misfortune of getting up close and personal with a bat in my kitchen last night, thankfully I saw the funny side, and when Berkay came home from work this morning, I greeted him at the door wearing his bat onesie, ahaha. I tried to scare him but he just laughed, I don’t think he really believed I had turned into Batgirl overnight, I can’t imagine why, it sounds pretty realistic to me (:

I was a tiny bit warm wearing this..

We went to bed til 3 then woke up and went to our friend’s house for a while. Remember them from the other posts? Baby Çınar is adorable. He loves us too, always giggling at us.

In typical Turkish style, our friend served us up cake, eclairs, cheese pastries and of course a glass or two of Çay.. Yummy. Good job I hadn’t eaten anything all day until then!

We’ve seen them more this past week than we have in the entire 2.5 years I’ve lived here, it’s sad really..only 18 more days in Turkey for me. ~~If i can ever bring myself to book my flight.~~

Photos posted with permission.

Walkies..

Posted on August 30, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

Just a quick hello and and a photo post today, we didn’t do much, woke up, ate lunch, popped into Fethiye to exchange my iPod charger (6th one in the past 2 weeks, don’t even ask) and then came home and went for a little walk with Boncuk. Then when Berkay went to work I realised we had a little guest..a bat flapping around the kitchen. Thirty minutes and a lot of hyperventilating later, the bat finally flew out. Stupid animals, just like flies, no problem flying in through the tiniest nooks and crannies, but when it comes to flying back out they cant see the huge window open right in front of them. It was pretty traumatic, haha.

Anyway, here’s a few photos from our walk.

How to make köfte

Posted on August 29, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

Berkay is the cook of the house, and today he made Turkish meatballs/ köfte from scratch to put on the BBQ. I thought I’d share his ‘recipe’ although he just judges everything by eye, so I don’t have exact amounts of specific ingredients.

Ingredients

Beef Mince (we used 400g and made 8 good sized meatballs)

2 Garlic cloves

One medium onion

Fresh breadcrumbs

1 egg

Black pepper

Salt

Dried chili flakes

Cumin powder

Olive oil

First, grate the onion and garlic into a bowl.

Next, make some breadcrumbs from crustless stale/dry bread. Berkay left half a loaf out this morning so it was hard by the time we needed it, he then put it into the oven for 5 or so minutes to make it even more crusty, but that’s not always necessary. He literally picked crumbs off the bread (but you could whizz the bread in a blender if you have one) and added them to the bowl with the onion and garlic, there is no exact amount here but less is best, you can always add more later if the mixture is too wet.

Then he added one whisked egg into the bowl, along with the minced meat. He also added the salt, black pepper, cumin and chili flakes at this point. Again, there are no exact measurements for this, to be safe you could add 1/2 teaspoon of each, but it’s entirely up to you and it depends on how spicy you like them. Berkay is a big fan of spicy foods so he added a good amount of chili flakes and salt. He added 2 teaspoons of olive oil too.

Now for the fun part, stick your hands in and give everything a good mix. You need to knead it all together for at least 5 minutes until everything is sticking together nicely, if the mixture is too wet you can add more breadcrumbs.

Take chunks of the mixture and roll into balls, then pat them down with your hands until they are around 1/2 inch thick. We made 8, but you could make more if you wanted them to be smaller. Put them in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to let them set a little.

Berkay cooked ours on the BBQ grill for around 15 minutes, make sure to cut them in half to check they are cooked through. You could also grill or fry them but you really just can’t beat barbequed köfte! Yummy.

Here’s an amusing photo of Berkay lighting the BBQ.. yes, that is my hairdryer.

10 untrue stereotypes about Turkey..

Posted on August 28, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

Anyone who has never visited Turkey, or bases their judgement of the country by what they have seen in one resort, is quite likely to form their own stereotypes of the country and it’s people from things they’ve heard, seen or read.

Anyone who lives here, or who has spent a considerable amount in the country will know most of these stereotypes are not true. Here are a few of the most common ones:

1. Turkey is a strict Muslim country.
Well, it’s certainly true that the majority of the country claim to be Muslim by religion, but the country as a whole, is not. Turkey is actually a democratic republic. Turks are very proud of their history, particularly that of Ataturk. Ataturk is the founder of the Republic of Turkey, he reformed and modernized the country. Turkey is a secular state, meaning its government do not (or should not..) favour Islam over any other religion, and religion should have no effect on public life, politics or law (although this is arguable after recent events.)

2. Women walk around in Burkas, covered from head to toe, only showing their eyes.
Wrong. It’s very rare to see women wearing Burkas in Turkey, it is discouraged. A lot of women do wear headscarves, although this is changing too. In fact, those women working in government buildings are not permitted to cover their head while working.
Walking around Fethiye in summer, I have seen plenty of Turkish women wearing revealing clothing, leaving little to the imagination, beaches are full of Turkish people sunbathing in bikinis. I imagine a lot of the big cities to be the same. Of course, in strictly religious rural towns and more traditional families, a lot of women do still cover up, but it is their choice.

3. Turkish people are uneducated.
Wrong. School education is compulsory for 6-18 year olds. There are over 100 universities in Turkey, some of which are very good, well respected and internationally known. I think this stereotype is one which comes from people judging the whole country based on their experience in holiday resorts. A lot of resort workers are from small villages and towns far away and come to resorts to find work as they are not qualified in any area of expertise. A visit to Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir or any of the larger cities would most likely change your mind.

4. Men are dominant, women are submissive and stay at home.
Technically, women and men have equal rights, but in practice, I’m not so sure. As before, in remote, religious and traditional villages, it is the norm for the male to be the main breadwinner and the wife to be the housewife; to cook, clean and be a good host to guests. Of course, women being housewives doesn’t necessarily mean they are submissive, many prefer this than working, lets not forget that stay at home mums and housewives are still a common thing in the UK too. However, with more and more women having university education and being welcomed into professional jobs, families are being modernized and women becoming more equal, even in tourists areas, it is not uncommon to see female waitresses and bar staff now. The country is very divided though in my opinion, between those modern and traditional families and their very different customs and beliefs.

5. Turkish men are lazy.
I can’t speak about all men, as I only know a few, and living in a tourist resort, my view is somewhat limited. What i will say though, is that the men who work in these tourist resorts do work ridiculously hard, long hours, often in the boiling heat, for very little money. Those who have professional, higher paid jobs may work less hours, but often just as hard. There is very little government help and certainly no real benefit system here in Turkey, nobody gets anything for free, they have to work hard for it. Turkish work ethic is the polar opposite of laziness, in my opinion.

6. Turkish men are allowed x amount of wives.
Wrong. Polygamy is illegal and can be punished with a prison sentence.

7. All Turkish men are love rats and just after your money, or a visa.
Wrong. Again, a stereotype based on ignorant views from people who have only ever visited holiday resorts. Sure, a lot of Turks working in resorts are liars and cheats, but not all, and they do not represent the country as a whole. Some resort workers take advantage of the foreign tourists and see them as easy targets for sex, money, a visa etc. The warning signs are there for these types of men, most men are very proud and would never ask for money, if anyone does, it should be a huge red flag. Turkish men are also very family orientated in general, and would never cheat on their wives, families, etc. There’s a lot of bad eggs out there, but there’s a lot of good’uns too. Lets not pretend adultery doesn’t happen elsewhere either, there are bad men, and women in every country in the world, it’s just thanks to ‘take a break’ magazine that Turkish people have arguably the worst reputation of them all.

8. The water is dirty.
Wrong. In most areas the water is perfectly safe to drink, especially those where the water is freshly sourced from melting snow on the mountains, springs, etc. There are some cities where old plumbing pipes affects the safety of the water, but on the whole the water is clean, however it may upset people if they are not used to it, as it has a higher mineral content and particularly high chlorine levels. I have always drunk it and never been ill, but bottled water is cheap enough if you’re here for a holiday and wary.

9. The country is unsafe.
Not really. Crime happens all over the world, certain areas are more dangerous and it could be argued that gun and knife crime are more common in Turkey than the UK, but I have no statistics to confirm this either way. On the whole, Turkey is safe, the people are friendly and you’ll never be far from someone willing to help you if you get into trouble. Some people board their plane and leave their common sense at the airport, stay alert and keep your wits about you, as you would in your home country, and you’ll be just as safe as you are at home.

10. Everyone wears a fez and has a mustache.
Don’t think there’s really any need to comment on this one is there? (; Thought I’d end on a lighter note (:

Having a Turkish partner, naturally I am constantly defending Turkish people and trying to change peoples narrow view of the country I currently call home. As I have said, there are good and bad people and customs all over the world. Turkey is a beautiful country with plenty of kind, beautiful people. You have to know to look in the right places and not get caught up believing everything you read or hear, and know there is often a lot more to the country than we see in resorts and areas designed purely for tourism.

Sunrise..

Posted on August 27, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

I am nocturnal. ~~Or a vampire.~~ I have adapted my boyfriend’s sleeping pattern (he works nights) and more often than not, I do not sleep until 8am, and wake up at around 3pm. People may say I’m lazy but I’m awake for the same amount of time as everyone else, I just prefer it to be at night. Cooler, quieter, more peaceful. (:

Another perk is the beautiful views of the sun rising up behind the mountains I have from my balcony.
Every morning around 0530-0600 I go out onto my balcony and just sit and enjoy the view. It is beautiful. I can see mountains from miles away, ones that cannot normally be seen from my balcony during the day. Sitting watching the sun rise above them is just perfect. Not something I’ll be able to do back in the UK.

Natural, calm beauty. What do you think?

Just a short little post today, a longer one coming tomorrow, I am determined to stick to my ‘blogging everyday’ promise.

Turkish picnic time.

Posted on August 26, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

All of the picnics I’ve been on in England consisted of little more than a cool bag, a picnic blanket, a few bags of crisps, hard boiled egg and hp sauce sandwiches wrapped in tin foil and bottle of lemonade. Here in Turkey though, when someone invites you to a picnic, it’s a whole different ball game, you pack up everything but (and sometimes including..) the kitchen sink.

It’s Sunday today, the ‘holiday’ day in Turkey, the large majority of people have the day off and take their families and head to the nearest beach to have a picnic. Berkay doesn’t get a day off, as most people in tourism do not, but working nights means we can still enjoy the day together sometimes. We joined his friend during his break and headed to Boncuklu koyu, a little bay the other side of Fethiye town.

When we pulled up, it was clear everyone had had the same idea. Cars everywhere, all blocking each other in, barely an inch spare on the ‘beach’ to sit down. We did eventually find a spot, and begun unpacking our friends car. Sun umbrellas, 5 litres of water, blankets, rugs, towels, glass plates, cups, cutlery, a barbeque grill, a bag of meat, a bag of fizzy drinks, a bag of tomatoes, aubergines, potatoes, onion, peppers and bread, 3 adults, a baby and a carseat came out of that car. I have no idea how it all fitted in, if you saw the car, you’d understand. Compared to what other families had brought with them, it was nothing. Next to us was a family who had a tent..filled with things and people. Outside, they had a gas bottle with a double Turkish teapot brewing cay on top, a BBQ and a huge rug with a lady sitting down hacking away at very fresh sheep meat, and a lot of it.

While Berkay & Serkan set to work on lighting the barbeque (it took several attempts, watching them move that BBQ around to various places was like watching a game of musical chairs) Serkan’s wife, their baby and I were left setting up the blankets, rugs and everything else. I was put on baby watching duty while she prepared the vegetables, salad and laid the plates out on the rug. Wise move – I’m much better at looking after babies than I am preparing food!

I took the opportunity to have a little paddle with the baby, little Çınar is adorable.

After 45minutes or so, dinner was ready. Doesn’t it look good?

While we were eating, a little kalamar (squid) caused chaos in the sea, grown women, men and kids alike were darting around screaming ‘Kalamar, Kalamar’ and trying to catch it in their hats, it was fairly amusing, made all the better by the fact we had front row seats. The little fella must have gotten away eventually.
After tidying up a bit, but somehow still managing to spread out across 3 rugs, we all went for a little swim in the sea. Since it was a bay it was very calm, no waves whatsoever. It was lovely and warm too, although it did start to get a bit windy and I was chilly then, I think I must be accustomed to the Turkish heat, anything under 30 oC and I notice it!

We all headed home at 7pm, time for the boys to go back to work. I had a lovely day, even managed to join in a little Turkish conversation, I understand more than I can speak, always good to eavesdrop without people realising you can understand.. sneaky!

I really love these Turkish picnics. (:

Photos posted with permission of those in them.

Turkish Delights..

Posted on August 24, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

We hopped on the dolmus and went on a little visit to the Turkish delight factory (http://www.servetsekerleme.com) in Calis yesterday.

I’ve been wanting to go for ages and at 6pm yesterday evening, Berkay announced over dinner that we were going out somewhere as a surprise, and that’s where he took me. (: I’m very easily pleased.

When we got off the bus, wow, the smell. YUM.

It’s basically a mini department store, this place sells everything. Handmade natural soaps, decorative soaps, jewellery, key rings, wind chimes, decorative plates, cay glasses, china & ceramic goods, silver & brass Turkish coffee pot sets, oils, nargile pipes, there was even a section for clothes upstairs.

Also an impressive collection of herbs & spices.

The main attraction though, was obviously the Turkish delight! There is a huge selection of all kinds of Turkish delight and other sweet goodies. There is also a huge glass window where you can look through and see the factory workers making it all. It smells so good.

This is what we came home with, Turkish Delight, some soft chewy sweets and a bracelet that Berkay bought for me, how sweet. (: